The Independent Panel

Good progress on #Ebola clinical trials — but access must be guaranteed for successful vaccines, treatments & diagnostics. @TheIndPanel Co-Chairs call on @WHO & @AfricaCDC to publish a roadmap from R&D to delivery. #Bundibugyo tinyurl.com/IndPanel

Pourquoi autant de cas confirmés d'Ébola en si peu de temps en RDC ? Il n’y a pas une seule explication. Il y en a plusieurs, et elles s’additionnent. Et tout n'est pas désespoir...lire ma chronique du 1er août 2026 ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/…?

The Ebola outbreak in the DRC has officially become the largest recorded in the country's history, with 3,532 confirmed cases and 1,556 deaths. It is now the second-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded, behind only the West Africa outbreak which infected over 28,000 people.

Preparedness is always the better investment in health. We learned this decade the hard way of the human and economic costs of chasing localized outbreaks that quickly become epidemics and land as pandemics on distant shores.

Today, the Friends of the PPPR High-Level Meeting have released a statement urging Member States to strengthen the declaration before it is adopted. Read the full statement here: mailchi.mp/independentpan… #PandemicPreparedness #PPPR #GlobalHealth #OneHealth #UNGA

The question is simple: Will implementation of this declaration make the world measurably safer? If the answer cannot be demonstrated, the declaration has not gone far enough.

Since COVID-19 was declared a WHO Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in January 2020, the world has faced major international health emergencies for approximately 70% of the time. COVID-19. Mpox. Ebola. Health emergencies are no longer exceptional. 🧵

The Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics found that pandemics and inequality reinforce one another in a vicious cycle. Inequalities allow outbreaks to become pandemics. Pandemics, in turn, deepen inequalities within and between countries. Breaking that cycle is one of the defining challenges of our time. #AfHealthSummit #PPPR unaids.org/sites/default/…

The first half of 2026 is a salutary reminder of why the world needs the WHO #PandemicAgreement & its #PABS Annex. As talks resume in Geneva, negotiators must seize the next two weeks. Time to move from words to action. Statement from @TheIndPanel: theindependentpanel.org/news/the-event…

A new pandemic threat is not a question of if, but when. Helen Clark, Victor Dzau, Joy Phumaphi and Shingai Machingaidze argue that UN Member States must act now to fix a fragmented pandemic monitoring system — before key global bodies close and critical gaps widen. Their message: monitoring must become independent, actionable and tied to financing, technical support and shared accountability. 🌍 📰➡️healthpolicy-watch.news/un-member-stat… @HelenClarkNZ @TheGPMB @IPPSecretariat @TheIndPanel @WHO @UN @WorldBank @IMFNews @WOAH @WTO @WIPO @CEPIvaccines @endmalaria @theNAMedicine @CeHDI_health

The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak is a real-world test of the world's pandemic prevention, preparedness & response system. It shows that the syst is not good enough. As UN Member States negotiate the political declaration for the PPPR High-level Meeting, it is a moment to make bold, measurable commitments. No country can do it alone — and the cost of inaction is clear. Read the statement from Friends of the PPPR HLM: bit.ly/4v96qyp

The @TheIndPanel is calling for a transparent access roadmap so any successful Ebola vaccines, treatments or tests reach the communities most at risk — not just those with the strongest purchasing power. ✍️@kerrycullinan11 @Chikwe_I @HelenClarkNZ @AfricaCDC @MaEllenSirleaf

As Ebola cases pass 1,000, a trial of two antiviral treatments is expected to start in DRC next week. @TheIndPanel is right: lifesaving innovations only matter if they reach the communities most affected. healthpolicy-watch.news/as-ebola-cases…

Disease outbreaks like #Ebola are a warning. The world cannot normalize this cycle of inequality and pandemics — where weak health systems, poverty and lack of access leave vulnerable communities most at risk. Our leaders must invest in preparedness, equity and community-led responses. healthpolicy-watch.news/as-ebola-sprea…

The tools missing from the current Ebola outbreak are real — no proven vaccine for this strain, no rapid tests on the ground. But there's a quieter gap that decides whether any tool works at all: trust. Look at what's happening right now: Grieving families in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo are pushing back against burial rules that keep them from honoring their loved ones in the way they are used to. Health and burial teams are sometimes met with anger and suspicion instead of trust. These reactions aren't ignorance — they're fear, and the legacy of communities long left out of their own health systems. You can't test your way out of an outbreak if people won't come to be tested. You can't trace contacts if no one will name them. I learned this the hard way in 2014, on the front lines of Ebola in Liberia. My patients saw hospitals not as places to get better, but as places to die. The turning point wasn't just how we worked with technology, but how we worked with people. We trained community health workers — neighbors, from the very communities we served — to fill a deadly void with trusted care. Residents learned the signs of Ebola. They teamed up with nurses and doctors, went door to door to find the sick, and boxed in the virus. Together, we ended that Ebola epidemic. That's the lesson I carried to the United Nations #pandemic hearing: in a crisis, common ground isn't found by forcing compliance. It's built — through shared humanity, curiosity, and transparency. Watch and read my full speech here @TheIndPanel: theindependentpanel.org/news/independe…